


Sea Salt Summers

by demiguise



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts, Magic, Marauders, This is pure fluff, inacurrate recipe for ice cream making, kingdom hearts made me do it, who is peter no one cares, wolfstar if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 08:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13632924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demiguise/pseuds/demiguise
Summary: On the summer before their final year at Hogwarts, Sirius decides they should open an ice cream shop. James is curious. Remus is concerned.





	Sea Salt Summers

**Author's Note:**

> This fic been reuploaded. Due to a very unfortunate accident, my account was deleted-- meaning I lost all of my works and your wonderful comments. But all of that has been fixed and here we go again!

 

Remus knows it’s a bad idea before it even comes out of Sirius’ mouth.

"Just imagine, Prongs! An _ice cream_ shop, middle of London, in the _summer_ —"

Remus worries his bottom lip, giving Sirius the benefit of the doubt and politely waiting for him to finish manifesting the entire plan.

"We’ll make some extra money—Merlin knows Moony here needs it—"

"Hey, I don’t—"

"Sorry, Moony, but you’ve been wearing the same horrid jumper since your fourth year and while that does say a lot about your ability to remain your youthful scrawny self it’s not—"

"But how are we making the ice cream? Do you know how to make ice cream?" voices James from the couch he’s currently sprawled on. Remus sends a grateful look in his direction, since he has (quite unknowingly) put an end to Sirius’ digression about his (not!) horrid jumper.

"Magic." Answers Sirius with a confident tone only a Black could muster.

Remus buries his face in his hands.

"No."

"What?! It’s brilliant how else do you expect us to make it?"

"Well…" begins James, actually sitting up "the way, you know, most people make ice cream-- key word being make, meaning, actually…cook it?"

"You don’t cook ice cream."

"Hush, Remus, I’m on your side here!"

Sirius looks positively deflated.

"But that’s no fun! None of us here know how to make ice cream!"

James adjusts his glasses. "Right, and listen, mate, you know I’m always head-on with any of your ideas but…why exactly an ice cream shop?"

"Because summer!"

"Couldn’t we make it like a lemonade stand—"

"Stop right there, Prongs, that’s absolutely the most ridiculous idea you’ve ever had—"

"Pot. Kettle."

Remus coughs.

"What’s that supposed to mean? You KNOW it’ll be a hit and, again, SUMMER, ice cream—"

Remus coughs again.

"ICED lemonade and summer sound just as good—"

Remus makes sure his next cough is quite dramatic.

Sirius pauses, stares, and opens his mouth.

"You okay there Moony? You’re being positively attention seeking with those coughs."

"I…might know…how to make ice cream."

Two reactions happen simultaneously.

"Remus, I love you!" Sirius’ grin could make the sun bashful.

" _Why?_ " James’ look of confusion makes Remus stare at the carpeted floor.

But Sirius’ happiness makes Remus forget to even give an answer.

 

 

One month later and _Seriously Cold_ ("It’s a terrible name and we’re going to be broke by the end of the summer" "I don’t know, I think it’s kind of funny" "Don’t encourage him, James" "We can still change it to _Lick my Popsi_ —" " _Seriously Cold_ is fine.")

Remus isn’t quite sure where they got the money to rent the shabby looking locale but he has a nagging suspicion the Potters have got something to do with it. Peter, bastardly lucky Peter, owls to let them know his family is spending summer at France and will unfortunately have to skip on the entrepreneurial adventure but maybe they can owl back a sample?

It’s not exactly the middle of London, but it is close enough to Diagon Alley’s entrance for Sirius to be at peace with the world.

Of course, now, when everything seems to work flowingly, does Sirius voice the rest of his plan.

"Okay, so here’s a list of flavors and prices—I’m thinking, we might want to keep them less expensive than the, um, three other ice cream shops near the area but--" he frowns at James’ and Sirius’ blank stares, "—but since you don’t know anything about Muggle money let me handle the finances" he finishes under his breath.

Sirius stands up and walks over to Remus to peek at the flavors’ list.

"Moony, what is this?"

"Seriously? I’m sure strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate are fairly standard flavors even to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Blac—"

Sirius pulls at his increasingly growing hair; he really should get a haircut but he really doesn’t want a repeat of Sirius attempting to magically shorten it last time, resulting in Remus wearing a gross looking Chudley Cannons knitted cap for nearly a month.

"I know what those flavors are, sweetcakes, I mean they’re boring."

"Boring." Remus deadpans.

Sirius nods. "Boring—every day flavors—flavors you can find anywhere!"

"Everyone likes- _should_ \- like chocolate!" Remus hopes his tone of voice doesn’t reveal he’s just a little bit insulted.

"I like chocolate" voices James from what is supposedly the kitchen—a very dusty looking kitchen.

Remus meets Sirius’ stare with what he hopes is an "argument over" look.

Sirius’ dark eyes give an all too familiar twinkle and Remus realizes he is completely loony for ever agreeing to do this.

"I was thinking unusual flavors."

"Unusual...meaning flavors no one will most likely buy?"

Sirius actually looks wounded.

"Have you no faith in me, Remus?" the lack of nickname and the crowding of his personal space make Remus swallow forcefully and take a step back, bumping against the wooden table and nearly dropping the list of flavors.

"I…" _no, man up Moony, ignore those puppy eyes_. "Well…what kind of flavors were you thinking?" He is a disgrace of a Gryffindor, and is already regretting his lack of courage as Sirius gives him a toothy smile.

"Sea salt."

"Wow, man, that’s gross. Am I interrupting something?" James is leaning against the doorframe, removing cobwebs that look like they belong in his unruly hair. Both Sirius and Remus give a step back away from each other, which unfortunately for Remus results in going over backwards and falling on his back.

"There is nothing wrong with sea salt flavored popsicles!"

"Have you ever had one?" winces Remus from the floor.

"No—"

"I’ll tell you why because it’s naaasty" says James.

"Look, just because I’ve never had one—here—" Sirius manhandles Remus back to his feet, never really letting go of his grip on Remus’ shirt collar, "doesn’t mean it’ll be bad. Plus, it’ll be sweet and salty—"

"I’m going on a whim here and assuming mainly salty, though" speaks Remus.

"It’ll be great! It’ll spark curiosity! We’ll be labeled the Whiz’s of ice—"

James makes a humming noise, and Remus has roomed with him long enough to know he is truly and wonderfully about to be outnumbered.

"Well…you’ve got a point, curiosity is always good for business—"

Sirius knows he has won. He sprints over to James and tackles him to the ground in a move that is characteristically Padfoot’s.

"YES!"

 

 

 _Seriously Cold_ has been open for business for two weeks now, and their highest selling flavors are chocolate and strawberry.

Sirius should be grateful Remus is not the bragging type.

"I don’t understand!" moans Sirius from the freezer room, "I even gave some sea salt ones out for free and—"

"That one girl called it 'like licking the sandy ocean' " offers James while wiping the cash register’s counter.

"That could be a good thing, right?"

Remus emerges from the kitchen with a freshly made strawberry bucket "Anything sandy is not normally considered good."

"Oh, shut up, Moony, you just want to rub it on my face."

Remus considers Sirius’ pitiful state and gives a thoughtful sigh.

"Maybe…if you give another batch a go."

Sirius blows a raspberry at the ceiling. "You mean, add one more to the ever increasing failed attempts?"

Remus slowly makes his way to the freezer’s entrance.

"Have you tried, maybe…decreasing the salt to sugar ratio, and since you keep saying the problem is it doesn’t stay cold enough to mix the two, perhaps…a temporary freezing charm?"

Sirius is looking at him like he’s the giant squid. Remus shakes his head, about to apologize for the useless idea and go back to stocking when he is suddenly covered in a mass of Sirius.

"Moony, Moony, Moony!"

"That’s…what my friends call me, yes?"

Sirius shakes him by the shoulders.

"You are brilliant, that you are! A freezing charm, how did I not think about that before?!"

"Because Remus here said that using magic was a really dumb i—"

Remus hushes James’ contribution with a single stare.

Before anything else can transgress between them, Sirius is planting really damn cold lips against Remus’ forehead and dashing to the kitchen.

It takes James three tries and slightly setting his shoe soles on fire ("They’ve melted, James!") to get Remus' attention back.

 

 

It’s James’ turn to close the store that night, but after pleading that the "lovely Miss Evans, enchantress of hearts" will be at the Leaky Cauldron, Remus decides to cover him. He also considers sending an express owl to Lily just to warn her about the oncoming storm.

He’s about to shut down the lights when he’s alerted by a crash from the kitchen. Convinced that he was the last one left, Remus prays he’s not about to face a Muggle burglar because he’s not quite sure how to get a hold of the Muggle police. Cautiously rounding the corner into the kitchen, he resists the urge to pull out his wand as he peeks inside.

He blinks.

Sirius Black is sitting cross legged in the middle of the kitchen floor looking like he lost a fight with a blizzard.

Remus clears his throat.

Sirius looks up, eyes wide in surprise, most likely also assuming he was the last one left.

"Erm, so, now it’s probably the best time to tell you I never quite mastered freezing charms."

Remus rubs at his temple, ready to speak, but Sirius’ held up hand stops him.  
"And while I’m feeling truthful, I should also tell you I accidentally transfigured a bucket into a rather violent snowman—he’s in the freezer."

Remus carries himself to the freezer, slowly opens it, and is promptly hit in the face with a snowball. He closes the door. Right.

"Right…we’ll deal with the snowman later."

"You’re not mad?"

And Sirius looks so worn out, so defeated, and so unlike his usual raucous self that Remus can only laugh.

"…is that an angry laugh?"

Remus finds himself falling to his knees right infront of the cautious looking Sirius, and shakes his head.

"Not mad…amused at you, you daft man."

Sirius blinks. "Well, rude. But that’s…better, I suppose."

"Why didn’t you just ask me for help?"

Sirius looks incredibly conflicted and for a moment Remus worries he’s asked something he shouldn’t.

"Well, I dragged you and James into this! You with a little more coerciveness than James, let’s be honest—and you both mocked my idea from the start and my inability to make ice cream so, I just wanted to blow your minds with this sea salt flavor!"

Remus bites the inside of his cheek, hoping he doesn’t show he’s both touched and hilariously amused.

"Did you make it, though?"

Sirius wrinkles his nose, trying to knock off a piece of ice. "Made what?"

"The flavor—despite your horrendous charm skills—did you make it?"

It’s amazing how volatile Sirius’ attention span is. Before Remus can ask his question again, Sirius is already a whirlwind in the kitchen, bringing forth a plain metallic bucket and a flurry of snowflakes back to Remus.

"Yeah, I mean, I overdid the freezing charm but I was able to get the consistency right. Here."

He pulls out a deformed looking popsicle from the bucket and shoves it into Remus’ hand. Remus smiles—the demanding Sirius he knows seems to be back.

"Well, try it, go on!" Sirius gestures with his hands.

Figuring this is the nicest thing he can do, Remus gives the blue popsicle one swift lick, and suppresses the need to flinch as salt particles stick to his tongue and travel down his throat…to then surprisingly settle into a sweet aftertaste.

Sirius is either feeling colder than what he lets on or holding his breath judging by the red tinge on his cheeks.

"It’s….good."

"What?"

Remus smacks his lips and gives it another lick.

"It’s…not bad. Unusual. But good."

"You’re not having me on, are you?" Sirius’ eyes narrow as he takes the popsicle from Remus and licks it.

"Oh, wow, damn, it’s good!"

Remus is staring. "Wait, you’re telling me you never tried it?"

Sirius shrugs, giving another lick, "I don’t like salty things."

Remus buries his stupid grin into a nearby pile of snow.

It’s only until the following day, when they’re startled by James’ blood curling scream, that they both realize they forgot to take care of the snowman in the freezer.

 

 

 _Seriously Cold_ has been open for business for a month now, and their highest selling flavor is sea salt. Remus vows to never admit he’s quite surprised at his salesman skills, he’ll surely never admit that he put on more smiles and gave more compliments than necessary to their customers to convince them to try the odd-looking flavor. However, at the rate things are going, Sirius’ ego might need its own compartment on their ride back to Hogwarts.

Still, as Sirius casually throws his arm around him while James divides their well-deserved earnings, and Sirius is already talking about the color he should get for his new jumper (“Definitely not orange, hate to tell you this Moony, but it’s really not your color. Don’t know what possessed you to wear that ghastly looking hat.”) Remus might, just a little bit, admit it was not the most terrible of ways to spend their summer.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is completely a self-indulgent piece that sprouted while I watched my sister replay Kingdom Hearts for the nth time.
> 
> I've just made the transition from tumblr to a03 when it comes to fic posting, so this fic was originally published under my consulthetrickster account. So, hi.


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